Proxy firm Glass Lewis recommends vote against Toyota chair
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Proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis has recommended Toyota shareholders vote against re-electing chair Akio Toyoda at the Japanese carmaker's AGM in June, saying the board is not sufficiently independent.
Toyoda, grandson of the company's founder and previously its CEO, was re-elected to the board last year with about 85% approval, a drop from the previous year's almost 96%.
That represented a rare rebuke in corporate Japan, where board members are frequently re-elected with near unanimous shareholder endorsement.
Glass Lewis also recommended a vote against Toyoda last year, citing what it said was his responsibility for a lack of board independence.
No-one was immediately available to comment on the matter at Toyota.
The carmaker has previously said its board meets governance standards set by the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Last year it said Toyoda had been renominated because he would push transformation of the company. Glass Lewis also said shareholders should vote against re-electing the board's vice-chair Shigeru Hayakawa.It did not recommend this last year.
It said shareholders should also vote against a proposal urging the manufacturer to align its lobbying activity with the Paris Agreement on climate change.